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Biomedical subjects

J Willems

Publications and source records attributed to J Willems.

134 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Enhancement of granulocyte luminescence by murine macrophage secretory products: suggestive evidence for the release of a new activator.

The incubation of macrophages (M phi) in the presence of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) usually results in the release of a variety of immunoregulatory cytokines such as interleukins (IL), tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and colony stimulating factors (CSF). We recently observed that conditioned media (CM) from LPS-treated murine M phi lines probably contain another protein endowed with granulocyte stimulatory activity. This cytokine, which has an apparent MW of about 55 kDa enhances the PMA-induced luminescence of granulocytes and also stimulates their degranulation as measured by lactoferrin release. In contrast to IL1 and IL6 this factor is destroyed by brief treatment at pH 2, but is stable for 60 minutes at 65 degrees C. Unlike CSF, its activity is unchanged by reducing agents such as beta-mercaptoethanol. Furthermore, pretreatment of the M phi with dexamethasone, in order to reduce the release of IL1 and TNF, hardly reduces the effect on granulocyte activation. Finally, treatment with a neutralizing polyclonal anti-murine TNF antiserum only partly abolishes its activity. These results show that, in addition to the already well-described cytokines, LPS-treated murine M phi lines most probably secrete another granulocyte activator.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A retrospective study of the conservative treatment of tennis-elbow.

The files of 64 patients (70 tennis elbows) treated in our department because of tennis elbow complaints, were reviewed. The results showed injection with a corticosteroid preparation to be effective in alleviating the pain in the short term (91% improvement within 1 week), but the incidence of recurrence of symptoms to be high (51%) after an average period of 3 months). Physical therapy appeared to be less effective (47% improvement after an average of 6 weeks or 20 sessions), but recurrence of symptoms was far less frequent (5%).

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMedDate not supplied

F-wave latencies of the deep peroneal nerve in diabetic polyneuropathy.

The F-wave latency of the deep peroneal nerve in function of leg length was determined in 66 normal persons and 25 diabetic patients with known polyneuropathy. The latencies were measured by stimulating the nerve at the ankle and recording the F-wave at the musculus extensor digitorum brevis using a needle electrode. The leg length was represented by the distance between the spina iliaca anterior superior and the lateral malleolus. The F-wave latencies obtained in diabetic patients were significantly higher than in controls (p less than 0.01). The method is suitable to detect polyneuropathy, especially in early cases where the conventional techniques (determination of the motor and/or sensory latencies and/or conduction velocities at the lower limbs) may still yield normal or borderline values. The upper limits of the normal values of the F-wave latencies in function of leg length is given by a non-linear curve, which can be represented by the equation: F-wave latency (msec) = 14.7 + 47.5 x (leg length in m)2. For practical purposes, the upper limit of the normal value for a given leg length can be readily determined from a latency-length curve.

Adult↗